I have been writing for Forbes since 2005. Prior to that I covered the business beat for the New York Daily News. Because I've studied both finance and journalism, and because I like both numbers & analysis and sports, what's a more fun job than merging the two, writing about sports from the business side and from the stat geek/number crunching side? I have a BS in business from Boston College and a masters in business journalism from New York University.

The Best Cities For Raising A Family

Grand Rapids, Michigan doesn’t boast a lot of affluence. The metro area population of 774,000 carries a median household of $47,040, good for just 65th place among America’s 100 largest MSAs. The city’s major claims to fame come from being a national leader in office furniture production, and for being the hometown of a U.S. president, Gerald Ford.

What Grand Rapids does have: the distinction of being the best metro area in the country to raise a family in. Income may be relatively low, but the cost of living is even lower. The local school system ranks in the top third in the country. Commuting to work is a breeze. The housing foreclosure mess didn’t leave Grand Rapids unscathed, chopping about 12% off area home values over the past few years. But that’s still quite modest compared to many other places. Almost 90% of Grand Rapids’ housing stock is affordable to a family at the median income level, the seventh-highest rate in the country. And the local crime rate falls well below the national average.

“The housing bubble never burst because there was never any real bubble,” says Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell, pointing out the mostly modest, 2,200 square foot colonials that dot the local landscape. Heartwell is a believer in public-private partnerships: Several neighborhood associations, using grant money in partnership with the city, work to keep things in good repair. Call it steady as she goes. If Miami, Florida, with its glitz and glamour giving way to real estate bust is the hare, Grand Rapids is the tortoise. “Even our most depressed neighborhoods are not blighted,” he says.

The relative strength of Grand Rapids’ housing market is enough to push it past the next two cities on our list, Boise, Idaho and Provo, Utah, both of which are particularly noted for low crime and high school quality. Not to mention the chance to mix urban and outdoor lifestyles.

“For us, it’s all about access,” says David McCauley, a 48-year-old IT professional who grew up on the east coast and moved to Boise with his family 13 years ago. “Skiing in 45 minutes, fly fishing in the Boise River, which also has some cool kayaking spots. Mountain biking is literally out my door, and we live downtown.” As for the kids? “They ride their bikes all over,” says McCauley. “They’re allowed to do things alone, but they’re never really ‘alone’.”

Many young single types may judge a city based on its bike friendliness, club scene, and coffee houses per square mile, in addition to the economy. And why not? You’re only young once. But once marriage and kids enter the picture, priorities change. School quality suddenly pops up as an issue. And those conditions that matter when you’re single – median income levels, housing affordability and commuting hassles – become even more important once you need to answer to more people than yourself.

We measured and ranked America’s 100 largest metro areas by median income, overall cost of living, commuting delays, crime statistics, school quality, and housing affordability (measured two ways – by the percentage of people in the MSA owning homes, according to the Census Bureau, and by the percentage of homes in the area that are affordable to a family making the local median income, according to the latest joint study by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders). In addition to the Census Bureau, NAHB and Wells Fargo, data was provided by the FBI (via CQ Press –crime stats), the Texas Transportation Institute (commuting delays), greatschools.org (school quality rankings) and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (Cost of Living Index).

Other metros making the grade: Youngstown, Ohio, where incomes are still depressed but where cost of living is low and schools are good, and Raleigh, North Carolina, with high median income and top school rating.

Of course, these things always come down to personal tastes and preferences. If you’re looking to chase a fortune, party with the stars and feel the energy of millions, go to New York or Chicago. But if you’re happy with a solid job that lets you get home in time to see the kids, and where the value of your house isn’t likely to crumble tomorrow, the small-city life is tough to beat.

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my father-in-law lives in Akron Ohio, boring place, right? We have heard him saying it doesn’t matter where your home is as long as your beloved ones reside with you. We have poo pooed this statement until last year we moved from Atlanta to Fayetteville, NC. We lost all the gourmet restaurants, museums, live shows, etc.. Guess what? It didn’t influence our happiness level at all. Life is just as good when loved ones are besides you. When there’s affordable living, with a solid job, quiet neighborhood, and no safety issues, everything is just going well. Amazingly we don’t miss big city life at all. There’s no need for a child to grow up with fancy stuff like Disney world or MOMA. Kids are alright just with mommy and daddy’s care.

Moved to Boise from Grand Rapids recently. G.R. is OK, but Boise beats it in about every desirable category. I couldn’t wake up and look out my window and see mountains in GR (maybe mountains of snow) Miss being away from the great lakes, but not the cold and humidity. Lower crime rate here in Boise too & better housing market.

Grand Rapids is a fantastic place to live and yes it is a great place to raise a family! To boot, it is a vibrant and growing city.

We moved to the Grand Rapids area 16 years ago for a few reasons: its reputation for being a great place to raise a family (it is indeed), Lake Michigan being under one hour west of here (you don’t know beautiful sandy beaches until you visit the Michigan side of Lake Michigan), four beautiful seasons, etc. I can assure you the Grand Rapids metro area and West Michigan has proved to be that and so much more.

For some more perspective on our choice of where to live: - My wife grew up in Hong Kong, lived in Sydney for several years (still has family there), and she visited a few major US cities before we met in the Detroit area. - Some of the cities outside of Michigan I’ve been to include Hong Kong, New York, Toronto, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Honolulu, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Miami, Orlando, Montreal, Quebec city, Phoenix, etc. - My current work situation allows me to live pretty much anywhere I want (in the US or out of the US.)

Our kids got an excellent education in the Forest Hills school district – immediately outside of Grand Rapids proper. The great K-12 schools plus lots of parental involvement result in an excellent educational foundation. Some of the students from this school district go on to achieve highest honors at top private and public US colleges/universities. Others stay nearer to home and attend one of the many fine colleges/universities here in the Grand Rapids area. Just so nobody misleads you on what kind of school district Forest Hills is: it is a fairly large school district – with people at both ends of the financial spectrum and most of us somewhere in between.

While in K-12 our kids enjoyed excellent piano, violin, and viola lessons here in Grand Rapids. For a few years my son had a Van Cliburn bronze medalist as his piano teacher. Our kids were both involved in music clubs that provided many opportunities for them to enjoy playing music for others to enjoy. They played in the Grand Rapids youth symphony (a fantastic youth orchestra by any measure.) They were involved in Science Olympiad and several other extra curricular activities that improved their learning and growing experience.

Above and beyond what the schools and others have provided for our kids while they were growing up here, my wife poured her life into helping our kids to grow academically, artistically, and as well rounded individuals who know they have value and worth and can do whatever they set their minds too. I would argue it is people like my wife and not institutions that make the Grand Rapids area such an excellent place to raise a family.

We have one of the top culinary arts schools in the US here in Grand Rapids – the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education. My wife just completed their intensive two-three year program. Ummmm good!

What do we do for fun here in Grand Rapids?

For musical entertainment we usually skip the arena music acts that come to Grand Rapids – but many of major arena acts do perform here in GR. Some of the musicians/groups we have enjoyed seeing here include: Wynton Marsalis and his band, Jeff Beck and his band, Tommy Emmanuel, Christopher Parkening, Chick Corea and Bella Fleck together, Chick Corea solo, Victor Wooten, many fine orchestral performances, jazz bands, etc. I would like to see our local jazz scene here grow more – it is starting to.

We have a vibrant art community here in Grand Rapids. I recommend that any lover of art visit Grand Rapids during our Art Prize event in the autumn. The entire city becomes one ongoing art venue that stretches from building to building, into the streets, along the Grand River, etc. Artists from around the county and out of the US come to show their art and compete for one of the very generous prizes.

Many excellent Broadway shows make it to a Grand Rapids for those who enjoy that.

We even have a fairly new opera house.

Four seasons are four of the reasons we love Grand Rapids: - The beauty of the spring blooms here in Grand Rapids is a sight to see! - In the summer we have a few city wide street fairs with some having multiple music venues at various outside locations in Grand Rapids. There is lots of good food outside and at restaurants throughout the area. We have various outdoor concert venues around town. And did I mention lakes to swim in? We have a ton of them from very small to the magnificent Lake Michigan. If you like camping, you’ll find wonderful places to camp all around Michigan – many of them not a very long drive from Grand Rapids. - I love autumn’s many colored display here West Michigan. - In the winter there is plenty of snow here (they call it lake effect.) It is beautiful to look at outside my office window. When our kids were young we spent lots of time sledding/tobogganing down various hills throughout town. Others enjoy cross country skiing, a bit of downhill, riding snow mobiles,…

I grew up in Youngstown but now the local city schools are a disaster earning the lowest grades in the state and the city is troubled by an increasing crime rate. Some of the suburbs are doing well such as Canfield or Auatintown but even Boardman is experiencing some crime problems. As fond as I am of my old home, I could never recommend it to someone raising a family. You can’t even travel safely through Mill Creek Park anymore. Has anyone from Forbes ever visited the area?